


On My Way to Believing

by cherrylarry



Series: Sprite Niall [1]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Human Harry, Human Liam, Human Zayn, Humor, M/M, Magic, Pining, Sprite Louis, Sprite Niall, hopefully there is, lirry are best friends, nouis are sprites, ziam work at a comic book store
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-12
Updated: 2019-09-21
Packaged: 2020-06-27 01:32:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19780498
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cherrylarry/pseuds/cherrylarry
Summary: Liam walks over to the sliding door to get the dog to come inside, but before he takes three steps he hears a small voice. “Thank you,” comes from underneath the furniture. Then, “oops!” Liam stops in his tracks. Surely that was his imagination.“Who said that?” He asks tentatively to the seemingly empty room anyway, because what if he did hear it.“Um, that was me. Down here. Sorry, I didn't mean to say that out loud. I did not think you would hear me,”  the voice replies and Liam looks down on the floor.There's a tiny boy - man? - crawling out of his hiding spot under the couch. It looks like he could barely fit under there when he stands up with part of the crisp in his grip and taking a bite with not a care in the world.Or, the one where Niall is a sprite that lives in a Sprite Village in Liam's back garden, Liam works at a comic book store with Zayn, Louis is the mischievous sprite that sneaks into Liam's house, and Harry is just along for the ride.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Phew this kicked my ass so hard guys but I made it! It will be finished shortly I promise. Life just got in the way as it does. Thank you to my writing gc for cheerleading as always! Thanks to Tabby for the Niall manip at the last minute, I appreciate you!
> 
> Happy reading and I hope you enjoy sprite!Niall as much as I loved creating him!

Liam groans and reaches blindly for his phone on the nightstand to turn off his blaring alarm. Hitting dismiss and silencing the marimba tone, he sits up before he talks himself into staying in bed a bit longer. He can hear Watson, his Great Dane, whining on the other side of his closed bedroom door. Liam groans again, throws the covers off and drags himself to the en suite bathroom. Brushing his teeth, and relieving himself, Liam forgoes a shower until he finishes his morning run. 

He throws on a tank top and a pair of running shorts, opening the door to an impatient Watson needing to go outside to do his own business. Liam pats the dog on the head and greets him good morning. 

“Good morning, buddy! Gotta go outside?” Watson wags his whip of a tail, hitting the wall of the narrow hallway. Liam leads the excitable dog to the kitchen where he opens the sliding door to the back garden. Liam grabs a plate from the cupboard and prepares himself an avocado toast, humming to himself. He’s debating if he wants to go three miles or five today when Watson starts barking. 

Liam sighs and rolls his eyes, mumbling to himself, “It’s too early for this, you’re gonna wake up the whole damn neighborhood.”

When he walks out onto the back patio ready to tell Watson off for barking at nothing, he sees the dog at the bushes on the far side of the yard. He opens his mouth, getting ready to yell, when he sees a rustle in the bushes where Watson is. Not waiting another second Liam yells, “Watson! Get over here now!” The dog merely looks at him and continues to bark at the bush.

Liam grumbles and stomps through the yard barefoot over to Watson. “Dammit Watt shut up!” Once he gets across the yard - where Watson still has not stopped barking - Liam grabs the dog by his collar and yanks it. Great Danes are strong dogs and it takes a lot to get him to move but at last Liam gets Watson away from the bush and to stop barking.

In the almost ten minutes it took to get Watson back inside, Liam's avocado toast had gotten cold. There is nothing worse than cold toast. And he's running out of time, so he grabs a granola bar from the basket on top of the refrigerator, quickly grabs his ear buds and phone, and heads out for his morning run. 

* * *

“So you know Harry, right? Well you don't know him because you haven't met him but you know of him.” Liam rambles to his co-worker Zayn at the comic book store later that day.

“Mate just spit it out. What about Harry? He's your best friend, right?” Zayn says patiently. He's used to Liam's rambling by now, having worked with him for over a year at the store. 

“Yes! Harry! Um, I was wondering if you were interested in going on a blind date with him. Which, it's not really blind because now you know who I'm setting you up with - not that I'm setting you up with anyone if you don't want me to. It's completely up to you.” Liam goes on and stops when Zayn places a hand on his shoulder.

“Liam, take a breath. Sure I'll go out with him. Why not, right? It will give me the chance to finally meet him after over a year of hearing stories about him. Since he never comes to the store.” Zayn says easily. He's been curious about Harry like he said, after a year of hearing stories, he sounds like a good guy. Even if he thinks comic books are nerdy. Zayn will admit that he is a nerd at heart.

“Oh, you will? Sick, man! I'll have to tell Harry you agreed,” Liam pumps his fist in the air a little like a dork and Zayn just shakes his head and smiles fondly at his friend.

It's a slow day at the store so Liam and Zayn chat while sorting the already organized comic books and straightening the Funko Pops on the shelves. Liam spots one of the Funko Pops that he hadn't seen and makes a mental note to text his sister to see if his nephew has that one yet. Maybe he'll get it for his birthday.

The time goes by slowly when there's virtually no customers around so it's a real relief when Liam's shift comes to an end. He says his goodbye to Zayn and finally heads for home. 

At home, the first thing Liam does is let Watson out in the garden to do his business then he grabs a snack: a bowl of crisps. He grabs a few at a time and shoves them into his mouth unattractively and drops one. Instead of picking it up, he kicks it under the couch.

Liam walks over to the sliding door to get the dog to come inside, but before he takes three steps he hears a small voice. “Thank you,” comes from underneath the furniture. Then, “oops!” Liam stops in his tracks. Surely that was his imagination.

“Who said that?” He asks tentatively to the seemingly empty room anyway, because what if he did hear it.

“Um, that was me. Down here. Sorry, I didn't mean to say that out loud. I did not think you would hear me,” the voice replies and Liam looks down on the floor.

There's a tiny boy - man? - crawling out of his hiding spot under the couch. It looks like he could barely fit under there when he stands up with part of the crisp in his grip and taking a bite with not a care in the world. 

Liam rubs his eyes like that would wipe away that he's seeing right now. The man has no shirt on and only a leaf covering the lower half of his body. Brunette hair covers his head and he also has the tiniest flower crown Liam has ever seen. Well, this man is the tiniest he's ever seen. 

“My name is Niall. It is a pleasure to meet you.“ Niall says and Liam is so weirded out he forgets to introduce himself. He crouches down to get a closer look, his bowl of crisps forgotten at the moment. 

“Oh.” Liam whispers, barely audible. He shakes his head, trying to shake the shock off because there's no way this is real. There's no way he's not hallucinating right now. “Hello. I'm Liam. It's, uh, nice to meet you, too.” He goes to shake Niall's hand but stops himself when he realizes his hand is about three times the size of the man still chomping on the crisp.

"Oh! Hold on. I'll make myself bigger." A wand appears and Liam watches as Niall points it to himself and grows before his eyes. He ends up being just a couple inches shorter than Liam. Now that's he's bigger Liam can see how very blue his eyes are.

"Woah." Liam takes a couple steps back. "Okay, what are you? Are you, like, a wizard like Harry Potter, or what?" 

Niall furrows his brows. "Who is Harry Potter? I do not know who that is but no, I am not a wizard. I am a sprite. I apologize for being in your house. I am usually out of here when you return," Niall explains.

"Wait, usually!? Like you've been here before? And a sprite? I've never heard of them. Is it similar to a fairy? Do you have wings? Where are you from? How did you get in?" Liam practically bombards him with questions. Absently, he hears Watson whining at the door wanting to be let in, but Liam ignores the dog. He'll be fine outside for a little longer, and he also doesn't know how Watson will react to the man in his living room.

Niall gingerly readjusts the flower crown on his head that went askew when Niall made himself human-sized. "May I have your crisps? I am very hungry. I promise that I will answer your questions as well."

"Yeah, you can have them." Liam hands the bowl of crisps to Niall and he puts one in his mouth, crunching down and closing his eyes as if savouring the taste. 

After he eats a few more, Niall clears his throat and starts to answer the questions Liam asked earlier. "Yes I have been here before. I do not come often but Louis does. I suppose I am like a fairy in the sense that I have magic, but we do not have wings. I live in your garden. Your dog seems very interested in our village."

Liam nods as he takes in all the information he's been given and he really wants to believe that he's dreaming. He subtly pinches his arm and winces. Not dreaming then. Okay.

Liam remembers that morning, where Watson was barking at the bushes. That must have been what he was barking at, the village Niall mentioned. 

"So, Louis. You said that he sneaks into my house often? He's a sprite like you, then?" Liam asks. He doesn't know how to feel about this information that sprites come and sneak into his house. Who knows what kind of mischief they get into. And Watson, too. What do they do to the dog when Liam's not home?

Niall looks a bit sheepish, like he feels guilty for throwing Louis under the bus when he's not here to defend himself. "Yes Louis comes in here quite a bit. It's just that, our village, there's quite a few of us, and Louis is very... protective? So when he comes in, it's usually for food. He doesn't take much! Just enough to hold us over for a few days at a time." 

Liam feels like a bobble head with how much he's nodding. He understands the motive for Louis sneaking in and he’s really not one for holding grudges anyway, so it’s easy to say that he forgives Louis. After all, Liam imagines if he was in that situation, he would do the same.

Suddenly, Niall seems panicked. "What is the time, by chance?" Niall's eyes are looking around like he's about to be caught getting a cookie from the cookie jar. 

"Five forty-five, why?" 

"Oh! I must go! I can not be out after sunset. It was a pleasure meeting you, Liam, but I must say goodbye for now," Niall rushes out.

"Oh. Will I see you again soon?" Liam asks, wanting the answer to be yes. He is very curious about this magical creature and desperately wants to learn more about him and his village.

"Perhaps." With that, Niall shrinks down to his original size and Liam goes to the sliding door to let Niall out and also to let Watson in. Watson immediately starts sniffing the air, his enhanced senses making it known that there was someone else in the house besides Liam.

"Alright, boy calm down. It's just me. Do you want your supper now? Come on." Liam goes to fill Watson's food and water dishes and then makes a quick frozen microwave dinner for himself as he thinks about his little (no pun intended) visitor.

For one, he's still not totally convinced that Niall, the sprite that lives in his back garden, wasn't a hallucination. Though, to be fair, he doesn't think his brain could conjure up a creature like that, or as handsome as Niall. What he wants to do is just not think about NIall, put him out of his mind until the next time he comes, If he comes back.

So that’s what Liam does. After he gets done eating his dinner, he texts Harry to let him know that Zayn is up for that date, and to give him a time and place so he can pass it on to Zayn. He and Harry banter back and forth for a while, as Friends reruns play on Liam’s telly, until it gets late enough that Liam is falling asleep on his couch with his phone in his hand. 

He gets up to let the dog outside for the last time before bed and he thinks about Niall and his village. He does hope they’re doing alright, but if it is as bad as Niall let on, he thinks he knows they’re doing just well enough to get by. It kind makes Liam feel guilty, even though there was no way for him to know anything about the creatures living in his garden. Until today. 

Liam shook those thoughts away with a shake of his head. He gets Watson back inside, turns off the telly and lights in the living room and goes to continue his evening bedtime routine.

When Liam falls asleep, he dreams of Niall.

* * *

He doesn't see Niall for a while after that day. And despite his best efforts to keep him out of his mind, he can't help but take stock of his food before he goes to work and when he comes home. When he goes grocery shopping and he gets a few more things than he needs so Louis or whoever is sneaking into his house can have enough, no one needs to know.

Harry and Zayn's first date went really well and they've been on three dates since. Zayn can't stop smiling at work and he keeps his phone with him behind the counter, texting Harry constantly. Liam is a bit smug that he pulled off this matchmaking. 

Liam and Harry are at their favorite pub one Wednesday evening. Harry is glued to his phone, as per usual lately, talking to Zayn no doubt. Liam is happy for his friend, truly, and he knows it's his fault he has a boyfriend now but Liam would like to spend time with his best mate like old times, when he wasn't constantly talking to, or about, his insanely good-looking boyfriend. 

"Haz, do you want another round? On me this time?" Liam asks, trying to win Harry's attention back.

"Nah, I think I'm gonna go home. Thanks for the offer though, Li." Harry blows a kiss across the booth getting up, and heads for the door.

Liam sighs to himself. He knows when Harry said he was going home he meant he was staying over at Zayn's place. At least one of them is getting laid tonight.

When he gets home, something feels off. Watson always greets Liam when he hears the door unlocking but the dog isn't at the door. Liam sets his keys in the bowl on the table by the door, and quietly walks further into the house.

"Watson?" Liam calls out, looking around the living room. There aren't many places a Great Dane can hide and it's making Liam nervous.

That's when he notices the light above the kitchen sink is on. He knows for a fact that he turned it off before he left for the pub. Liam gets his phone out and dials the emergency number with his finger over the call button when he enters the kitchen.

What he sees is not what he was expecting. Niall is eating a sandwich and Watson is at his feet, begging.

"Niall? I thought you were a murderer or something! You scared me half to death." Liam says with his hands to his chest, trying to calm his racing heart.

Niall puts his sandwich down and quickly crosses the room looking concerned. "Are you okay? You look fine, why did you say you were dying?" 

Liam can't help the laugh that comes out. It's just. Niall is so cute and naive it's hard not to be amused by it. "I'm sorry I don't mean to laugh. It's just a figure of speech meaning you startled me." 

Niall blushes. "Oh okay," and he goes back to finish his sandwich.

"Watson let's go outside, come on." Liam whistles for the dog to come over to the door but he whines, looking at Niall's sandwich. "You're not getting a bite, now come on." Finally the dog relents with a huff.

"So I guess you snuck in when I let Watson out before I left this evening? I thought you couldn't be out after dark." Liam turns to Niall from where he is standing at the sliding door waiting for Watson. 

Niall takes the last bite of his sandwich and takes his time chewing it. "It is because we can not be out during sunset. It is a rule we have to follow." 

Liam nods not knowing what to say to that. He calls for Watsom to come inside instead. He’s trying not to stare at Niall’s bare chest, but it’s really hard not to with it being right there, chest hair and all, practically in his face. The leaf covering his lower half really leaves nothing to the imagination and LIam really want to put some clothes on this boy. That actually might be a good idea.

Even though Liam didn’t have that much to drink tonight, the alcohol in his system makes the decision for him. “I’ll be right back, don’t leave okay.” LIam leaves the kitchen to go to his bedroom, looking for something that would fit Niall. He doesn’t even know how long he’s planning to stay tonight but it doesn’t really matter. He picks out a plain white t-shirt, a pair of boxers and some sweatpants. 

When Liam returns to the kitchen, Niall is gone. Then he hears giggling from behind the kitchen island. Watson is attacking Niall, licking his face all over with his tail wagging, Liam fondly smiles at the sight, His eyes trail down Niall’s body without his permission and stop at where the leaf was decidedly not covering his lower half anymore because of his position on the floor. 

Liam looks away quickly and clears his throat loudly. He hands out the clothes to Niall. “Here, I brought you some clothes to put on.”

Niall just looks at Liam blankly, “Why?”

“Well aren’t you cold?”

“I am used to the cold.”

Liam searches for another excuse, “Please at least put these sweatpants on.”

Again, Niall just looks at him and repeats, “Why?”

“Because it’s impolite to not have any clothes on. You must at least have something on to cover your body.” 

“But I have this already covering me” Niall points to his leaf, finally getting to his feet. He bends down again to pick up his flower crown that fell off his head and Liam gets hit with another eyeful of his bare arse this time. 

Liam takes a deep breath through his nose.to calm his feelings. He’s not immune to gorgeous people. This guy in particular, this magical sprite is very gorgeous and it’s messing with Liam’s head. It’s been a long while since he got laid, okay? It’s not his fault. “It’s not covering enough. Just put them on please?” Liam pleads handing the sweatpants to Niall.

Niall snatches them out of Liam’s hand looking annoyed. “Fine.” 

Liam tries not to laugh while Niall tries to put on the sweatpants. First, he tried to put them on upside down, which Liam had to correct before he put his leg through. They got it right in the end though. It was a difficult time for Niall, who didn't have much balance and almost fell over multiple times in the process but Liam was there to catch him every time.

With that situation settled and Niall's dick covered, Liam can breathe again. It's getting late and normally Liam would be on the couch watching reruns right now so that's what they do. Niall asking questions- a lot of questions- during the Friends episodes they watch. 

When Liam can't keep his eyes open any longer, and Niall is yawning next to him, he knows it's time for bed. 

Liam lets Watson out one last time and when the dog in again, he sees that Niall fell asleep on the couch. Liam takes the blanket folded over the back of the couch and covers Niall with it gently while he sleeps. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahem *chuckles nervously* It's finished!

.The next morning, Liam isn't surprised to find Niall gone from the couch.

He goes through his morning routine like usual, and since it's his day off, he texts Harry to see if he wants to go to the movies or something later. It turns out that Harry was going to the movies with Zayn already and asked Liam if he wanted to tag along, but Liam isn't keen on being a third wheel so he takes a rain check. He just stays home instead, and sits on the back patio since it’s a gorgeous day. with a book.

After that night that Niall slept on the couch, Nall has been coming inside almost every day. Liam hasn’t been able to talk him into putting on a shirt yet but he puts on the sweatpants without a fuss now.

It's one Wednesday that Liam is getting ready to go to the pub with Harry and Zayn and Niall is sitting on his bed observing him getting dressed, when Liam gets an idea.

"Hey, Niall? Do you want to come meet my friends?" Liam calls out from the walk-in closet.

Niall tilts his head to the side. "Your friends that are a couple? Henry and Zayn, right?"

Liam chuckles at the small mistake. "It's Harry and Zayn. But yeah, them. Do you want to come?"

"Harry and Zayn. Yes, I guess I will come and meet them," Niall nods.

"Cool. You know you will have to put on a shirt and something other than sweatpants on, now that you're leaving the house." Liam reminds Niall.

Niall rolls his eyes, "Yes I will put on a shirt."

Liam lays out a looser pair of blue jeans for Niall to wear. While Niall puts on the pants Liam laid out for him, Liam walks over to the closet and starts ruffling through the tops in there. Finally after a few minutes, Liam finds something.

“You should wear this, it brings out your eyes,” Liam holds up a hanger with a green sweater he picked out from his closet.

“Wait, what? Why would I want to bring out my eyes! I like them in their designated spot!” Niall exclaims, crossing his arms over his bare chest.

“Er, no that’s not what I’m sayin-.”

“Honestly, you humans are so strange.”

Amused, Liam tries to explain. “It's a figure of speech. It means that it makes the color of your eyes more noticeable.”

“Ohh, okay that makes a little more sense I suppose. Humans are still strange though, even if I understand that - figure of speech did you say?” Niall says, nodding his head once definitively and taking the sweater off the hanger. He proceeds to try and put his head through one of the arm holes and Liam is so endeared by this creature of magic. Liam helps him with the sweater and after three minutes it's on correctly.

"These pants are tight where they are not supposed to be. I don't like them." Niall pouts in the Uber car on their way to the pub.

"You'll get used to them, don't worry," Liam pats Niall on the shoulder reassuringly and Niall just pouts back.

"I promise when we get home you can put on the sweatpants again." Liam tells Niall quietly. Niall smiles at that.

When Liam and Niall get to the pub, Zayn and Harry already have a table and drinks sat in front of them. Harry has something fruity and Zayn has a beer.

Liam sends Niall over to the table and quickly gets drinks for themselves and hopes that Niall doesn't do anything too embarrassing. Liam has been teaching him a lot about manners lately, maybe Niall has actually learned something.

Liam arrives at the table with a beer for himself and a glass of water for Niall. He knows that Niall hasn't had alcohol before and he's not sure the effect it would have on him. Though admittedly, Liam would pay money to see a drunk Niall.

The four lads are actually having a nice conversation but Liam notices that Niall keeps looking curiously at his beer.

"Do you want to taste it?" Liam asks Niall.

Niall nods and Liam slides his drink over to him. Niall picks it up and sniffs it first, making a face while pulling it away from him. He slowly and cautiously brings it to his mouth and takes a drink.

Harry, Zayn and Liam all watch for his reaction. Liam can tell Harry is trying not to judge Niall for obviously never have tasted beer before, but it still shows on his face. Zayn is not hiding his judgement at all.

"Euck!" Niall sets the glass down with wide eyes. "What is that? It is revolting!" He pushes the glass back to Liam and washes his mouth down with his water and draining it.

The other three are openly laughing at his reaction.

"Have you never had beer before, mate?" Zayn asks with raised eyebrows, still snickering.

"No, I have not. And I never will have it again." Niall says

"Aren't you Irish, though?" Harry adds

"Yes." Niall answers and offers nothing else.

Liam is giggling through the whole exchange. “Here, I’ll get you another water, Ni.”

“I’ll come with you, I need a refill anyway. Be right back, babe,” Harry pecks Zayn’s cheek and then slides out of the booth.

The two walk towards the bar and Harry took the opportunity to talk to Liam about Niall. "So where did you find him? He's cute, Li."

Liam rolled his eyes and smiled a little as he called the bartender over to order their drinks. "Yeah, he is. Um, he just lives in the neighborhood."

Liam looks back at the table where Zayn and Niall are still sitting and smiles when he sees Zayn talking gesticulatively to Niall. It looks like Niall is very invested in what Zayn is saying.

"Liam?" Harry bumps his shoulder. "Our drinks are ready. But don't think this conversation is over," Harry winks and grabs his drink from the bar and heads back to their table.

* * *

The day Liam meets Louis is unexpected, to say the least. It's Liam's off day on a Friday, which almost never happens for him. He's not doing much of anything, just scrolling through Twitter and Facebook on his phone mindlessly when Watson comes whining to him to let him know that he has to go potty. Liam huffs and plays annoyed at the dog, when really he's thankful to be saved from that social media black hole he was being sucked into.

Watson does his business and starts his routine sniff around the yard, when suddenly a person grows right in front of Liam's eyes. It startles him, as one would be startled, and Watson starts barking at the man immediately.

Once Liam calms his heart from racing out of his chest, he realizes that this must be Louis. The sprite that snuck into his house long before he found Niall. He can tell because of the leaf covering his lower half like Niall had, and the mischievous look in his eyes tells Liam that he has had more Human interaction than Niall had when he had been discovered.

"Um, hello?" Liam says, unsure of what to do.

"Yeah, hi. Are you Liam?"

"Yes I am. And who are you?"

"I'm Louis. Niall has been telling me a lot about you, and I just wanted to know more myself."

Liam tries to suppress his smile at that. Niall has been talking about him.

"Okay... what did you want to know?" Liam asks.

"What are your intentions with my little Nialler? Should I be worried about you corrupting him?" Louis places his hands on his hips sassily, and it's a little amusing but Liam controls his face into a neutral expression.

"Intentions? Corrupt him? What are you talking about? I don't have any intentions at all." Liam says, his brows furrowing in puzzlement.

"Niall told me you gave him a drink of your beer."

"Yes, because he looked like he was interested in what I was drinking. So I let him taste it. He didn't like it though, so it's not like I got him his own beer. I think that's hardly corrupting him." Liam explains. Louis rolls his eyes.

"Oh please," Louis scoffs. "I'm not worried about that."

"Then what is it?" Liam huffs, starting to get annoyed by this visitor now.

"It's-" before Louis could finish, Niall appeared.

"Louis, stop. That is enough." Niall silences Louis with a hand towards him.

"But I was just-"

"No. I don't care what you were doing, or going to say. Neither does Liam I am sure." Niall interrupts.

Liam was actually curious about what Louis was going on about but he's not going to ask now. Not with the glare Niall sends Louis' way.

"Fine, okay? I'll shut up." Louis mimes zipping his lips and throwing away the key. Niall looks confused for a second. "I'm shutting up and throwing away an invisible key," Louis explains gently and Niall nods in understanding. Liam watches their exchange in amused silence.

Niall's obliviousness is so endearing and Liam just wants to keep him.

Liam invites them both inside eventually, and Louis opens Liam's refrigerator like he owns the place. He pulls out some string cheese and starts eating it without a care in the world. "I hope you don't mind. I'm starving!" Louis says with a mouthful of mozzarella cheese.

"Help yourself I guess." Liam replies, he's not going to deny someone of food. That's not the kind of person he is.

The sky is getting cloudier outside, and it looks like it's gonna rain soon.

"Louis, do you feel that? We better get home and fast. The rain is coming." Niall voiced. "I apologize for Louis' behavior today, Liam. We must go now before the rain falls. I will see you soon." Niall ushers Louis to the sliding door.

"Wait! Why don't you take some food with you. Maybe some more cheese if you'd like?" Liam offers.

"That is very generous of you Liam, but-"

"We'd love to. Thank you so much, Liam." Louis cuts in, looking pointedly at Njall. He rushes to the fridge and takes all but two of the string cheeses out.

"Thank you again, Liam." Niall says one last time before dragging Louis out of the house to the backyard. Liam stands there in his kitchen sort of dumbstruck. That was one of the most odd visits he's had from Niall yet.

What was Louis going to say before Niall interrupted him? He has so many questions and so little answers.

__

  
"Louis what are you doing?! You can not just take food from Liam!" Niall exclaims as they make their way through the grass in the yard to the village.

"Chill out Ni. He offered!" Louis defended.

"Yeah, but-"

"No 'buts' about it, Niall. He offered so I accepted. End of." Louis says. "Also, I want to know what you are doing."

"What do you mean?" Niall asks.

" With all the 'oh we must go!' and shit," Louis mimics with a high pitched voice. "All the old timey grammar." Louis stops. "Wait. I know what this is "

"Louis don't-"

"You fancy that human! Oh my god this makes so much sense! And you're blushing so you can't deny it" Louis lets out a cackle. "See this is why you need me to be your wingman. Almost literally."

"We don't have wings," Niall grumbles.

"Hence why I said almost." Louis says sassily with a roll of his eyes and keeps walking.

When they get to the entrance of their village, Louis’ siblings are the ones to meet them. “Lou Lou!” all six kids nearly knock Louis over, they’re so excited to see him. Louis raises the hand that has the cheese sticks high above his head so that they don’t fall.

“Hello girls and Ernie! I have something for you, but you have to calm down alright?” Louis lowers his hand once they’re calm and the excitement bubbles up again. One at a time in a single file line, each sibling takes their cheese stick and gives Louis a kiss on his cheek in thanks. He then ushers them all inside before the rain starts to fall

Niall and Louis go to Niall's room and they sit on the bed where Louis won't shut up about how to get Liam to like him back. "You could just tell him!" Louis suggests. "Say 'Liam, I would really like it if you kissed me' or something and see if he does. He totally would. I mean who wouldn't? You're adorable!"

Niall blushes at Louis' words and thinks maybe, just maybe, he will.

* * *

  
The last time Liam saw Niall was when Louis showed up out of the blue, and that was almost a week ago.

Not that he's keeping track or anything. Definitely not.

Anyway, he's finally hanging out with Harry. Zayn had to do some paperwork for the store so it's just Li and Harry at Liam's house.

It's mid-afternoon and they're playing Mario Kart on the classic Nintendo Wii console and Harry is kicking Liam's ass.

"Guess who's first place again! That's right ladies and gentlemen, it is I, Princess Peach! Bow to me, peasants." Harry exclains, probably for the fourth time and most likely not the last. "Admit it, Luigi. You just can't drive!"

Liam sighs, defeated once again. "I'm gay, what do you expect?"

Harry laughs. "The perks of being bi I guess."

They're in the middle of racing Rainbow Road when there's comes a knock at the sliding door. Harry pauses the game and gives Liam a quizzical look.

"Did you hear that?" They fall silent for a moment until the knock comes again.

Liam gets up and makes his way to the sliding door and sees Niall on the other side. He opens the door and steps out, sliding it closed again.

"Niall, hey. Um Harry's inside." Liam tells him, looking pointedly at the leaf around Niall's waist.

"Okay. I will say hello to him," Niall says. Liam sighs internally at the sprites' lack of social skills.

"Alright, come in then," Liam opens the sliding door again and they both go inside."Stay here." Niall nods and Liam dashes to his room quickly to get the sweatpants and a shirt for him.

When he comes back into the kitchen with the clothes in his hands, Harry decides to walk in and see what is going on. Harry sees Niall and stops, he turns to Liam with his eyebrows raised, a million questions written on his face.

"Oh, hi. Niall, right?" Harry says politely, never wanting to seem rude to anyone. Liam clears his throat and practically shoves the clothes to Niall and shoos him into the bathroom to change, silently pleading that he actually puts on the shirt today because of Harry.

"Um," Liam starts. "I didn't know he was coming over today." It isn't a lie, but Liam feels like he needs to tell Harry more. But if he tells him that Niall is a Sprite and that he lives in his back garden, there is a zero percent chance of Harry believing him at all. He himself has a hard time believing it sometimes, even when he shrinks and grows in size right in front of him.

"No, yeah of course. I didn't think you knew," Harry pauses. Liam can tell that he wants to say more, ask the question that's on his mind, but that he knows it's probably not his business. "I can go, so you can have your time with Niall."

"No, you don't have to leave. You can stay and we can finish playing Mario Kart. Niall's never played, so it should be fun."

\----

Niall playing Mario Kart is a disaster. A very amusing disaster. First, he holds the controller upside down, so when he wants to go left, he goes right instead. He also keeps forgetting to hold down the button to keep going and he gets frustrated every time the ink blot covers his windshield. Needless to say, Niall does not like Mario Kart.

After a couple rounds, Harry leaves to pick Zayn up from work. He bids Liam and Niall goodbye and heads out the door. Now that they're alone, Niall has the opportunity to tell Liam what he and Louis talked about the other day. It's been a week since then, Niall has been seeking Louis out for the confidence boost, to just go for it. Now is his chance.

Liam gets up, he points to the kitchen, "I'm gonna get an apple, do you want anything?"

Niall shakes his head, "No, thank you." Liam nods and leaves the room. Niall psyches himself up. He can do this, it's just Liam. Liam is nice, and funny, and caring, and very handsome.

Okay. He stands up from the couch, and walks into the kitchen, he's on a mission and nothing can stop him now. "Liam." Liam looks up from where he stood on the other side of the island in the middle of the room with a bite taken out of the apple in his hand, startled. Niall rounds the island so that he's standing in front of him.

Liam opens his mouth, about to question why Niall's there but Niall cuts him off. "Liam I would really like it if you kissed me."

\----

Liam just stares at Niall for a few seconds chewing the bite of apple in shock, "Uh," he says unintelligibly.

"Sorry. What I should have said was, can I kiss you?" Niall looks at Liam with his big, round blue eyes

Liam swallows harshly. "You want to kiss me?" Liam whispers, not believing his luck. Every time that Niall appears with just his leaf, it takes everything in Liam to not kiss him. Now Niall is standing in his kitchen telling him that he would like to be kissed by Liam and asking if he can kiss him.

Niall takes a step forward and places his hand on Liam's bicep hesitantly. Liam wants this so bad and it's obvious Niall wants it too, so why not? Liam sets the bitten apple on the kitchen island and raises his hand to Niall's bare shoulder. It's almost like they're in slow motion, they both lean in so Liam can feel Niall's breath on his lips.

Then they're kissing.

They're kissing and it's everything Liam has wanted since he introduced Niall to Zayn and Harry. It's soft and sweet, and it doesn't go any deeper than just their lips. Both Niall and Liam's eyes are closed and when they pull back, Liam opens his slowly and sees the hint of a smile on Niall's lips.

"Well that was nice," Liam whispers with a grin.

"Yes, very nice indeed," Niall agrees. "Liam I like you so much." Niall pulls away so that he can look at Liam's whole face but close enough that they're still touching.

"I like you, too. Will you stay? I mean if you want to. I know you have to go back for sundown but then will you come back and stay with me?" Liam asks and he presses another kiss to Niall's mouth.

Niall is already nodding his head before Liam even finished the question and he kisses Liam back eagerly. The apple lays forgotten on the kitchen island as they make their way back to the living room and sit on the couch side-by-side.

They lose track of time after that, talking about everything and nothing. Now that they have permission to touch, they touch everywhere. Knee to knee, thigh to thigh. At one point, Niall climbs into Liam's lap and they kiss for twenty minutes, not expecting it to lead anywhere.

Watson, ever the cock blocker, does make them separate long enough for Liam to let him outside. He's surprised to see that it's after sunset. They were wrapped up in their personal bubble for longer than he thought.

"Niall, did you know it was after sundown?" Liam calls to the living room.

"Yes I did," Niall answers.

Liam pokes his head into the living room where Niall is playing a game on Liam’s phone. “Why didn’t you say anything? I would have let you go. I know how important it is for you to be there.”

"It's okay I have Louis to cover for me. And it's alright if I miss one day. I’m not worried about it.”

Liam's still not convinced but he drops the conversation anyway, and goes back to watching Watson outside. Also something about the way Niall speaks is different today. Liam can't pinpoint it, but he knows it's there.

* * *

"Liam, I need to tell you something." The two of them are sitting on the couch a few days after their first kiss, watching but not really paying attention to the TV.

"Okay…" Liam says, muting the television.

"I haven't been, ah, completely honest with you." Niall looks up at Liam's face and quickly continues. "I mean it's nothing, like, major! It's just that I know more than you think I do. About humans I mean."

"How do you mean?" Liam asks, bemused. His brows are furrowed and there's a little wrinkle that forms in between them that Niall has the urge to smooth out.

“Like, when we went to the pub with Harry and Zayn and I said I didn’t know what beer was. The truth is I love beer,” Niall mumbles just loud enough for Liam to understand what he’s saying.

“So, why did you lie about that? You know i don’t care about that.”

NIall sighs. “I guess it was because I had a crush on you and I wanted to charm you, or something? I’m not totally sure to be honest, but that’s what Louis told me I was doing. And also I don’t ever talk like how I did at the beginning. Louis thought I was crazy when he noticed how I was acting.” It’s almost like a weight has lifted off Niall’s shoulders but when he looks at the confused puppy look in Liam’s eyes, it comes back.

“Niall, you don’t have to pretend to be someone else to get me to like you. I’m gonna like you for you not someone else, okay? Yes, I was so endeared by you the minute I met you and I do wish you were honest with me from the beginning but I appreciate you telling me now.” Liam has turned his whole body to face Niall and he reaches out to take his hands in his own. “The truth is, Niall, I believe I'm falling in love with you.” Liam finishes quietly, bringing Niall’s hands to his lips and kissing them.

“I’m sorry,” Niall whispers, almost inaudibly and leans in to kiss Liam, overcome with emotion. It’s a short kiss, one that doesn’t lead anywhere but it says what Niall can’t yet say out loud.

“Don’t apologize, love. It’s alright now,” Liam replies just as softly when he pulls back from the kiss.

“You know,” Niall starts with a mischievous glint in his blue eyes and a smirk on his lips, “There are still some things that I don’t know about humans.”

“Oh, really? Tell me more,” Liam responds cheekily, launching himself at Niall and laying on top of him, attacking him with kisses all over his face as Niall giggles and squirms.

A little while after they calm down and Liam is spooning Niall on the couch, he’s on his way to falling asleep. He feels content laying here with Niall, with his boyfriend if that’s what they’re calling themselves. They haven’t had that conversation yet. It can wait though, until after a nap.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading. I really had so much fun writing these characters. This is my fic baby. I enjoy reading nice comments and receiving kudos! You can reblog the fic post [here](https://beelou.tumblr.com/post/187862671908).

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I'll have the second part up really soon!! You can reblog the fic post [here](https://allthelarrylovex.tumblr.com/post/186257593553)


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